We know it's the minimum, but because it's the only solid figure we can have, it's what gets brought up most, and besides that, $40k is still more than enough of a waste of money for Phil to be laughed at until another 8000 pages gets added to the main thread, even if Phil doesn't live that long. Especially since he is not new to this kind of shit, he has had plenty of warning about what kind of money it can take to have something to flex on people within a mobile game and he went at it anyways, because he's that pathetically in need for such an opportunity.
I do very much think that that's exactly what motivated Phil to get into whaling out on Champions, too. I don't think it's addiction to the games themselves, he has been willing to jump ship the instant it's no longer gratifying for that purpose, aside from when detractors ruined it for him, which is probably THE reason he still plays Champions. It's him giving us the finger. When the devs changed things in that other game, that was one thing, but when things went great until his account got found and his rep cost him his escape, that was another thing entirely. Now he had an enemy, who he already hated, to do battle with, by refusing to give them what he thought they wanted, which was to quit.